Stephen Bowen (American football)

Early years

Stephen first played pee-wee football for the Baldwin Bombers at the age of 7 and then onto North Babylon, NY with his father as his coach for many of his years there.

Bowen attended Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills, NY where he lettered in both football and basketball. As a senior, recorded 235 rushing yards and four touchdowns to go along with 330 receiving yards and five touchdowns. On defense, he recorded 97 tackles.

College career

Bowen attended Hofstra University where he was a three-year starter. As a freshman, he played in all 12 games as a sophomore and recorded 49 tackles, three sacks and one fumble recovery. As a junior, he recorded a career-high 68 tackles. As a senior, he recorded 11 tackles for losses.

He finished his career with 168 tackles, 11.5 sacks and one interception, which was returned for a touchdown.

2006–2010

Bowen was signed by the Dallas Cowboys on May 4, after going undrafted in the 2006 NFL Draft. He was released on September 2 and signed to the team's practice squad two days later. On November 8, he was promoted to the active roster and appeared in the season-ending loss to the Detroit Lions, recording his first career sack against Jon Kitna.

In 2007, Bowen served as a back-up to starting right defensive end Chris Canty, recorded 9 quarterback pressures (fourth on the team) and 23 tackles, ranking him 5th on the team among defensive linemen. The next year, he played in 14 games (he was inactive twice) and recorded 28 tackles, 9 quarterback pressures.

In 2009, he appeared in all 16 games (2 starts) as the backup to Igor Olshansky and recorded a then career-high 31 tackles, 3 sacks and 33 quarterback pressures. In 2010, he appeared in all 16 games, started 9 in place of an injured Marcus Spears, finished with 25 tackles (10 solo), 12 quarterback pressures, 1.5 sacks and one pass defensed.

2011 season

On July 28, the Washington Redskins signed Bowen to a five-year, $27.5 million contract. Bowen was named the starting right defensive end. In his first season with the Redskins, even though he was diagnosed with a third degree PCL tear on November 28, he started in all 16 games for the first time in his career. At the end of the 2011 season, Bowen set new career highs with 58 tackles and six sacks. He received the team's Ed Block Courage Award not just for overcoming injury, but also the passing of his son and his mother-in-law.

2012 season

Bowen received arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in mid-April. On November 14 during the Redskins' bye week, he was made a co-defensive captain after a team vote. In the Week 14 win against the Cleveland Browns, he tore his upper left biceps and would still play for the rest of the regular season. He would make an essential defensive move in the next week against the Philadelphia Eagles. During the Eagles last attempt to tie the game and with seconds remaining, Bowen put enough pressure on Nick Foles to make him throw the ball into the turf. Despite one second remaining on the clock, Foles would receive an intentional grounding penalty, ending the game and giving the Redskins the victory. He registered 51 tackles (31 solo), 32 quarterback pressures, 3 passes defensed and one sack.

2013 season

In the Week 7 win against the Chicago Bears, Bowen suffered a tear in his right PCL. He continued to play through the injury until he further injured his right knee in a Week 11 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. On November 26, the Redskins moved him to injured reserve due to needing a microfracture surgery to repair his torn PCL. He finished the season with 19 tackles (11 solo) and one pass defensed.

2014 season

Having spent all of training camp on the PUP list, it was confirmed that he would remain there at the start of the 2014 season. He was placed on the active roster on October 18. He was released on February 27, 2015, after appearing in just 8 games (3 starts), while registering 11 tackles and no sacks.

2015 season

Bowen was signed as a free agent by the New York Jets on March 24, reuniting with Todd Bowles, who was a Dallas Cowboys assistant coach. He was a reserve player and appeared in 15 games with one start. He announced his retirement on June 1, 2016, signing a one-day contract with the Washington Redskins. Bowen finished with 128 games (57 starts), 175 tackles (103 solo), 12.5 sacks and 9 passes defensed.

Key

Personal life

Bowen married his college girlfriend Tiffany Johnson, in March 2008. The couple have 3 children-one daughter, Trinity, and twin boys, Stephen III and Skyler. Bowen's twin sons were born four months prematurely on June 28, 2011, the same day he signed with the Redskins. Unfortunately, Skyler died 10 days later. On December 8, 2011, Bowen won the Redskins’ Ed Block Courage Award in recognition of the inspiring way he dealt with Skyler's death.

Bowen is best friends with fellow defensive end, Jason Hatcher. Both of them started their NFL careers with the Dallas Cowboys in 2006.